Dance and Your Child

Dance is essential to general education for boys and girls. Dance education beginning in early childhood and continuing throughout life benefits the body, mind and spirit. There are also many skills learned in dance which are required for success in everyday life .Self-motivation, leadership, teamwork, communication and time management are only a few.

Benefits of Dance for Children

Dance education has many benefits:

• Physical. Dance helps to increase flexibility, improve circulation, tone the body and develop muscles. It also improves posture, balance and coordination.

• Intellectual. Dance enriches learning through a variety of perspectives, both traditional and experimental.

• Aesthetic. Dance awakens consciousness of beauty, lending new meaning to movement and form.

• Cultural. Dance increases understanding and appreciation for forms, choices and rituals from a broad range of historical, social and cultural perspectives. Emotional. Dance helps develop self-confidence and self-esteem in a stimulating environment.

• Social. Dance improves sensitivity, understanding, appreciation and consideration for others, both for their similarities and differences.

Dance Engages the Whole Person

Although dance can be great exercise, it is primarily an art form and an aesthetic expression of mind and body. Dance as an art form has three dimensions:

• Learning. Like other art forms, dance helps us to perceive and communicate who we are.

• Knowledge. Dance has its own body of knowledge which can be shared, passed on and enlarged.

• Experience. The very nature of dance is best discovered through experiencing it. In this it is almost unique as an art form, and very special as part of a child's education.

• By combining these three dimensions, dance engages the whole person in simultaneously moving, thinking and feeling. Thus dance education can enhance your child's physical, mental and emotional development. This holds for boys and girls alike.

Dance for Young Children

For young children, dance offers avenues for exploration, discovery and the development of natural instincts for movement. Dance activities offer many benefits for children, encouraging mental and emotional development as well as obviously enhancing motor skills.

Dancing gives the young child a chance to experience and understand both personal and social perspectives in a stimulating situation. Dancing offers opportunities to express thoughts and feelings and to understand other's thoughts and feelings.

Where to Find Dance Instructors

First, look into the situation in your school and school district. Look into private instruction in studios, community centers, parks and recreation programs, summer camps and other enterprises such as YWCAs.

Assure yourself that a dance program is appropriate for your child's physical and social development and that it is educationally sound. The following information may help you review the dance instruction in your local school, private studio or other setting.

Evaluating Teachers and Classes

Ask the following questions about the teacher(s) who might instruct your child. In an ideal situation all the answers will be yes:

• Can I observe the class before enrolling my child?

• Does the teacher seem aware of the physical, emotional and social development and needs of the students?

• Does the teacher seem enthusiastic about the work?

• Is the teacher supportive of each student's abilities, potential and goals?

• Does the teacher use imaginative, varied and interesting approaches to the material being taught?

• Does the teacher seem well prepared and able to effectively communicate his or her knowledge?

• Is the teacher familiar with human anatomy and the proper use of the body?

• In the same spirit, ask these questions about the classes:

• Are the students grouped according to age, physical abilities and social development?

• Are class and time allotments appropriate for the age group?

• Does the teacher give time for movement exploration?

• Does the class provide satisfaction and enjoyment?

• Is required attire appropriate and comfortable?

The above excerpts were taking from a report for The National Endowment for the Arts entitled “Dance and Your Child”.

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